50 Years a Birder: A Look Back and Ahead
Written by Andy McCormick
Andy McCormick, Volunteer and Former Board President of Eastside Audubon
On March 18, 1972, at age 26, I decided to begin a life list of the birds. The first bird on that list is a male Red-winged Blackbird seen at the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. I had, of course seen birds around me before that date, but I had no idea about birding as a hobby or sport. By 1972 I became more aware of birds when a friend suggested I listen to news of the presence of rare or migrating birds through the weekly Massachusetts Audubon Rare Bird Alert, a recorded telephone message which listed the names and location of rare birds.
The friend who told me about the alert was not a “birder” in the sense of being a lister. However, he was a birder in the sense that by listening to the alert, he experienced a feeling that “things in the world were OK” if the birds were around. He had tapped into the peacefulness and beauty of birds, characteristics which still attract new people to birding. During the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands more people have learned to appreciate birds and other wildlife. Birds have provided solace for humans for a long time, and we are fortunate to be able to experience their beauty, their song, and their flight.
STARTING MY LIFE LIST
At the time, I had recently purchased my first pair of binoculars, but I had not listed any birds. I did not join birding field trips at that time. I had no connection to other birders, and I did not join Audubon right away. I just knew that I liked going out looking at birds and wanted to keep doing it and I birded alone. It did not take me long to think that it made sense to keep track of the birds I was seeing. On that first life bird day, the male Red-winged Blackbird was in a beautiful setting overlooking Nauset Marsh and its red epaulettes were radiant in the spring sunshine. I thought, “This is how I want to start my life list.”
SPARK BIRD
However, I was not a committed birder until May 5, 1974. That is the day I met my spark bird, a Prairie Warbler in Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. This cemetery is a storied migrant trap along the Charles River near Harvard University. In early May the migrating warblers arrive just at the time the trees and flowers are in bloom. It can feel like a magical time of year. That day, the Rare Bird Alert report included warblers and I went to see them for myself.
Birders were everywhere in the cemetery that day, as they often are during the first two weeks of May, and with their help I had seen four life birds: Chestnut-sided and Black-throated Green Warblers, Blue-headed Vireo (then the Solitary Vireo), and Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. But, it was when I saw the bright yellow Prairie Warbler with black streaks on its chest and flanks in the middle of a blooming white dogwood blossoms, that I became hooked on birds for life.
MEGA RARITY
The following year I learned through the Rare Bird Alert about the presence of the mega-rarity Ross’s Gull in Newburyport, MA and on March 9, 1975, I joined hundreds of birders from all over who had come to see it. This event marked a sea change in the world of birding in the United States. The news made the print and television media, and birding was front and center to people for the first time and the excitement brought new people into birding. Over the next three months the gull was present, thousands of birders went to Newburyport to get a look at it. Before Ross’s Gull we birders thought of ourselves as isolated but curious people who had the odd habit of wanting to watch birds. Ross’s Gull taught us that there are thousands of us, and we felt a sense of community that we never experienced before that event. I’m grateful for having birds in my life because birding is a wonderful hobby that can be open to anyone.
THE SPARK OF A WIDER COMMUNITY OF BIRDERS
We are now more aware that the world of birding has not been open to everyone and that there are barriers to participation for some people who also love birds and would want help them. I have no memory of people of color being part of these early events in my birding life. That seems remarkable because we know that people all over the world love birds and have made them part of their folklore and art. Unfortunately, we also know that people of color have told us they do not feel welcomed in birding and conservation organizations and people with disabilities report they often cannot participate in some of our activities. Once again, birders are learning that there are birders that have enjoyed birds in isolation. Fortunately, this is changing, and we are in the midst of another sea change in birding. A change that will widen our community of birders to include more people from diverse backgrounds be they race, ethnic, age, or gender based.
The spontaneous appearance of Black Birders Week created a new spark in the birding world. The Week provided an opening for new voices from African-American birders to express their experience of birds and birding. Green 2.0, Latino Outdoors, and Outdoor Afro are other organizations working to bring more people of color out into nature. Hike Like a Girl and the ABA Young Birders Program are other important educational programs. New leadership at National Audubon is responding to the challenge to become more diverse and this challenge to reach new and younger people from all backgrounds is filtering to local Audubon chapters. The recent collaboration of Olympic Peninsula Audubon and Audubon Washington with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe which developed the new Dungeness River Nature Center is a wonderful achievement.
The world view of birding is changing. Bird Names for Birds is moving the birding world beyond the colonial world view which honored white men by naming birds for them. Instead, the purpose is to see birds as a natural resource for all people, and new language will hopefully help people feel a part of that heritage. Seattle Audubon has developed their innovative Hoot Camp training requirement for people in leadership to promote conservation education and diversity in their membership. Birdability is another innovative program designed to assist birding organizations to develop programs for the inclusion of people with a variety of disabilities.
A SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE
This participation and ideas from diverse people and organizations will help make our work successful. We older birders cannot bring birds and conservation very far into the future alone. The demographics of our world are changing, and we need people from diverse backgrounds and communities to protect birds and their habitat for the enrichment of all future generations, and to communicate their knowledge to more people. I want all people who experience the peacefulness and beauty of birds as my friend did to feel welcome in any birding setting.
We also know that populations of birds are declining due to changes in land use, habitat loss, and now global warming. This knowledge can be discouraging, but it can also promote a recommitment to the work of conservation. I remind myself that we have helped birds before by eliminating DDT which allowed the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, and Brown Pelican to recover. This history is important to remember as we work toward new victories. My spirits are lifted by the energy of young people from diverse backgrounds that are participating in our local bird surveys. This kind of community science data collection has brought new people to our chapter and will strengthen our organizations. This research does not leave the adventure of birding behind. These young birders are also seeing life birds during the surveys.
I am grateful I am still birding, still writing, and still meeting wonderful people. There is more to do, more birds to see, and more people to reach with our message. For many years I have believed that birds will take us to places we never knew existed. Now, I understand that those places are not only geographic, but they are also social and conceptual. Birding is changing and opening to innovation and new people. That is a good thing for us older birders and for the birds.
Photo Credit: Dennis Church.